Ouster shares surge 28% on manufacturing and partnership deals for Rev8 lidar platform

Rivian Automotive plans to equip its first R2 vehicles with LiDAR and its internally developed RAP1 autonomy computer for employees by the end of 2026, while customer deliveries are now expected to begin in 2027, according to Electrek. The timeline marks a shift from the company's earlier communications, as Rivian introduced the third-generation RAP1 chip last December, rated at 1,600 sparse INT8 TOPS, and said at the time the technology would arrive in late 2026. The R2 launched in June without the new hardware, though a production-ready-looking R2 equipped with LiDAR was later spotted near Rivian's Irvine headquarters. Rivian VP of Investor Relations Chip Newcom said production of the RAP1 system will initially focus on the R2, with employees receiving the technology first before the rollout expands to customers in 2027, leaving the late 2026 target technically intact but initially applying only to employees. Rivian SVP of Autonomy and AI James Philbin said the rollout is expected to begin toward year-end, initially reaching early-adopter customers with R1 Gen 2 vehicles and later Gen 2 hardware revisions, including fleets Rivian classifies as Phase II and Phase III, with the company aiming to extend the technology across its full Autonomy+ fleet later next year. Separately, Lucid Group and Bolt have entered a strategic partnership to develop and launch autonomous mobility services across Europe, jointly developing an autonomous driving system-ready vehicle platform designed to support SAE Level 4 autonomous mobility, while France has begun testing two vehicles to evaluate Tesla's Full Self-Driving system after the Netherlands' road authority RDW provisionally approved it for Dutch roads in April.

Ouster announced surging customer momentum for its Rev8 OS1 Max native color digital lidar, which the company calls the world's first native color lidar, with payload integrators and drone OEMs across the aerial mapping market selecting the sensor for utility corridor inspection, infrastructure management, and defense applications. Powered by Ouster's L4 Max chip, the Rev8 OS1 Max pairs 256 channels of survey-grade 3D range data with native 48-bit color, reaching ±0.25 cm 1σ precision and ±1.25 cm accuracy, twice the precision and accuracy of the previous Rev7 generation, with a spot size up to 50% smaller than Rev7 and 200 meters of range at 10% reflectivity. The sensor carries IP68 and IP69K ingress protection, 100 G shock resistance, and an operating range of -40 °C to +85 °C, and is designed and developed in the U.S. to comply with the statutory supply chain security standards under §164 of the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act, with Build America, Buy America Act certified versions also offered. Flyability is evaluating Ouster's Rev8 OS0 lidar to unlock native color 3D mapping in hazardous and GPS-denied industrial environments, building on five years of joint innovation, while GeoCue is pairing its TrueView payloads with the Rev8 OS1 Max. Ouster is showcasing the Rev8 OS1 Max at INTERGEO in Munich from September 15-17 in Hall B5 at Booth B5I018.

Pony.ai unveiled a new Level 4 autonomous heavy-duty truck developed with GAC Commercial Vehicle at IAA TRANSPORTATION 2026 in Hannover, Germany. The vehicle is one model in Pony.ai's Gen-4 Robotruck lineup and is built on GAC Commercial Vehicle's T9 battery-electric heavy-duty truck platform, with volume production scheduled to begin later this year for deployment in long-haul freight, dedicated-route logistics and port transportation. It pairs Pony.ai's Gen-4 L4 autonomous trucking system with GAC Commercial Vehicle's fully redundant drive-by-wire chassis, and carries a fully automotive-grade autonomous driving kit with nine lidars, three millimeter-wave radars and 13 cameras for 360-degree sensing coverage. The bill-of-materials cost of that kit has been reduced by 70% versus the previous generation, while transportation costs per ton-kilometer are expected to fall by 30%, and Pony.ai's energy-efficiency algorithms combined with the T9's 0.4 Cd drag coefficient are expected to cut energy consumption by 10% compared with conventional trucks. The launch extends the companies' partnership from Robotaxi into Robotruck, following a strategic cooperation agreement signed on April 16 that led to vehicle testing and validation within five months, and Pony.ai plans to enter European and Middle Eastern markets over the next two years.